Art Van Furniture Set To Close All Stores, liquidation begins.

Art Van Furniture, the metro Detroit-based company and the Midwest’s top furniture and mattress retailer, announced Thursday it is shutting down and will begin liquidation sales at all of its company-owned stores in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio.

The shock announcement comes just three years after the company’s sale by the Van Elslander family to a private-equity firm.

Art Van is expected to declare bankruptcy early next week. The filing would be a Chapter 11 reorganization, yet could potentially result in the permanent closure and liquidation of all Art Van Furniture stores — unless one or more buyers step forward to rescue the retailer.

“Despite our best efforts to remain open, the company’s brands and operating performance have been hit hard by a challenging retail environment,” Diane Charles, Art Van Furniture spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The liquidation sales will begin Friday at all Art Van Furniture, Art Van PureSleep and Scott Shuptrine Interiors in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri, as well as select Levin& Wolf stores in Maryland and Virginia. The Art Van stores are to close in 60 days.

Art Van has about 190 stores and about 3,100 employees. Twenty of the stores are franchise locations, situated in the company’s “outmarkets” including the Upper Peninsula, Alpena, Mount Pleasant and Owosso in Michigan and in Indiana.